June Hunt - Forgiveness: The Freedom to Let Go

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Forgiveness: The Freedom to Let Go
Copyright 2013 Hope For The Heart
All rights reserved.
Published by Aspire Press
An imprint of Hendrickson Publishing Group
Rose Publishing, LLC
P.O. Box 3473
Peabody, Massachusetts 01961-3473 USA
www.HendricksonPublishingGroup.com

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FORGIVENESS

The Freedom to Let Go

JUNE HUNT

• Allows Jesus power of forgiveness to transform the way that we can forgive others.
• Gives wisdom, tips and insight from June Hunt, one of the world's leading biblical counselors whose life's work has yielded landmark contributions in her field.
• Relieves the need for grudges and resentment to ultimately find the freedom of forgiveness.

Dear friend,

Have you ever had a serious struggle with forgiving someone? In the hidden recesses of your heart, have you wanted to see those who have wronged you receive severe judgment rather than forgiveness? If so, I understand.

I know all about harboring an unforgiving heart. For a number of years, I felt totally justified in harboring unforgiveness toward my father. He was an unbeliever who lived a lifestyle of infidelity.

At the same time, my mother was my soft spot. If you had known her, you would wonder, How could anyone want to hurt her? She was compassionate, kind, and caring. Consequently, I would try to protect her from his cruel treatment ... but no matter how hard I tried, I failed. The truth is, whenever she hurt, I hurt.

I remember how easy it was for me to focus on my fathers faults! I would look for areas where he was wrong. Of course, since he never admitted to wrongdoing, I felt absolutely justified in my hatred. I would never have called it hatred. I didnt see myself in that lightas bitter. Why? Because the fact that I could still see his faults proved I was right.

I later became a Christian and learned about the forgiveness, mercy, and grace of God. Yet, I still felt justified in my hatred and unforgiveness. Why? Because my father had not changed. In order for me to forgive him, he had to change ... that was my requirement.

I never will forget the day I came face-to-face with a passage that changed my perspective. Its found in 1 John 2:911: Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.

I suddenly realized I had been blind to anything good that my father had done. All I could see or wanted to see was the negative. I remember asking my mother, How can you be so nice to him? Her answer was telling! Oh, honey, if only he had the Lord, he wouldnt be that way. That was the key. She looked beyond his faults to see his needHe needed the Savior. She and her friends were praying for him to have a changed heart.

Six months before my father died, he was willing to pray a prayer of salvation. I am convinced that this occurred because my mother had nurtured the soil of his heart with compassion and forgivenessthe hardened ground had become softso that when the seed of truth was shared, it actually took root.

No matter what your circumstances, its never too late to choose the road of forgiveness. My hope is that through this book, God will speak to your heart and deepen your desire to walk the road of forgiveness every day of your life.

How I pray that you will experience the freedom that comes from embracing a heart of forgiveness!

Yours in the Lords hope,

FORGIVENESS

The Freedom to Let Go

The year is 1944. Nazi Germany occupies Holland. An elderly watchmaker and his family are actively involved in the Dutch Underground. By hiding Jewish people in a secret room of their home, members of the Ten Boom family courageously help Jewish men, women, and children escape Hitlers roll call of death.

Yet one fateful day, their secret is discovered. The watchmaker is arrested, and soon after being imprisoned, he dies. His tenderhearted daughter Betsie also cannot escape the jaws of death at the hands of her cruel captors. In the Nazi concentration camp, she perishes. And what about Corrie, the watchmakers youngest daughter? Will she live ... and, if so, will she ever be able to forgive her captors, those who caused the death of her father and her sister? While she is trying to survive the ravages of Ravensbruck, one of Hitlers most horrific death camps, can anything sustain Corrie ten Boom? To what can she cling? Indeed, Corrie does survive. Her God sustains her. She lives the truth of these words:

False witnesses rise up against me, breathing out violence. I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the L ORD in the land of the living. Wait for the L ORD ; be strong and take heart and wait for the L ORD . (Psalm 27:1214)

THE MANY FACES OF FORGIVENESS

Two years after the war, Corrie is speaking at a church in Munich. She has come from Holland to a defeated Germany, bringing with her the message that God does indeed forgive. There in the crowd, a solemn face stares back at her. As the people file out, a balding, heavyset man moves toward hera man in a gray overcoat, a man clutching a brown felt hat. Suddenly a scene flashes back in her mind: the blue uniform; the visored cap with its skull and crossbones; the huge room with its harsh, overhead lights; the humiliation of walking naked past this man ... this man who is now standing before her.

You mentioned Ravensbruck in your talk. I was a guard there, he says. But since that time I have become a Christian. I know that God has forgiven me for the cruel things I did there, but I would like to hear it from your lips as well.

He extends his hand toward her and asks, Will you forgive me?

Corrie stares at the outstretched hand. The moment seems like hours as she wrestles with the most difficult decision she has ever had to make. Corrie knows Scripture well, but applying this passage seems to be too much:

If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, I repent, forgive him. (Luke 17:34)

Assume you need to borrow one hundred dollars to help pay a medical bill. You ask a friend for a loan and promise to pay it back at the end of the month. But when the time comes for repayment, you dont have the money. In fact, for the next three months, you still dont have the money. Then unexpectedly, out of the kindness of his heart, your friend chooses to forgive the debt ! This is one facet of forgiveness.